Matthew Evans (1) (1966–)

I haven't had a great reading year in terms of books that I have loved or even scored 4 out of 5 but this book, Soil, is fantastic and so far is the best book I have read this year. It is also the first year that a non-fiction book has been the best book I have read so far.

Evans is a market gardener in Tasmania and it is this which drove him to find out more about soil and unlike other books I have read, is not too much science included in the text, or too little. What he has managed to do show more is transform the science into writing that is readable without losing any of the informative nature.

Written in small chunks probably makes the book more readable than others, but hidden in here were things that I had not read about before such as bacteria being at the heart of hail and indeed rain, leading to the notion of poor soil and therefore lower rainfall. Remarkable. I know that growing is all about the compost I produce and the variety of types of compost which will ultimately increase the diversity of life in the soil and ultimately in me.

Any good gardener can tell you that compost works like fairy dust.

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Humus is what nature produces on top of the earth surface and we still don't really understand how this works but creating compost mimics this process. Mulch the top of the soil with it and we have mimiced nature but speeded up the process.

I am still fascinated by the fact that plants don't just 'suck up' nutrients from the soil but are fed them by the microbes and that they also give back sugars in the form of exudates through their roots. It is a co-existence, plants and microbes, one without the other will not work and there are many ways we can disrupt this delicate balance - digging/ploughing, use of artificial fertilisers and growing vegetables without soil.

This book is a call to action for all gardeners. Look after your soil. There are many ways in which you can do this which Evans details but in doing so, we look after ourselves and the planet.

If you want to hear Evans talk about soil, watch his TED talk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-Vb7c5dj_g show less

A very interesting read with some rather shocking statistics from a convinced meat reader. Highly recommended especially if you don't agree with him. Personally I think that he is too easy on the meat eater and like so many people these days he seems completely unaware that there is the possibility of political involvement and puts all the responsability on the individual consumer.